February 12, 2020
Summary: Temperatures have gained on the average of 3 degrees over 24 hours ago. As of 1:00pm, many locations were already in the upper 60s, so low 70s should be pretty widespread this afternoon and again Thursday afternoon. Currently, a large high covers the eastern Pacific and the western 1/3 of the U.S. with only a few high clouds embedded within a weak northwest flow aloft. A weak ripple of low pressure aloft will move through Friday, perhaps lowering temperatures by 3 to 4 degrees, but certainly no more. On Sunday, a trough of low pressure will move out of the Gulf of Alaska through the Pacific Northwest then into the interior western U.S. with no active weather for central California.
Behind this system, though, is a big upper high which will ridge north/northeast into southern Alaska and northwest Canada with possibly a dry cut off low developing off of southern California by midweek. At the surface, this will generate an off shore flow while a northeast flow will be sandwiched between the high off shore and the low center over southern California. The main impact of all this will be a somewhat cooler air mass which could result in local frost by the middle of next week, but nothing serious.
Medium range models show a dry pattern for the middle of next week, as well.
Forecast: Outside of occasional high clouds, skies will be clear through Sunday. Expect mostly clear skies Sunday night through Wednesday.
Short Term:
| Madera 34/69/36/66 | Reedley 34/70/36/67 | Dinuba 33/68/35/66 | |
| Porterville 35/70/36/68 | Lindsay 34/71/36/67 | Delano 36/71/37/67 | |
| Bakersfield 42/71/42/68 | Taft 44/71/44/67 | Arvin 37/71/38/68 | |
| Lamont 38/70/38/68 | Pixley 34/70/36/67 | Tulare 33/68/35/66 | |
| Woodlake 34/69/36/67 | Hanford 37/70/38/66 | Orosi 33/68/35/66 | |
Winds: Winds during the afternoon and early evening will be generally at or less than 10 MPH through Saturday. Winds during the night through midmorning hours will be generally at or less than 6 MPH with periods of near calm conditions.
Rain: Dry weather will continue for the next 7 to 10 days.
Frost Discussion: All locations will be above 32 degrees through at least Monday morning. It’s possible colder locations could dip into the lower 30s Tuesday and Wednesday, but no widespread frost or freeze event is on the horizon. What we foresee is a large upper high building north/northeast into southern Alaska and northwest Canada with the possible formation of a cut off low over southern California. This creates a rather robust off shore flow and also moves somewhat cooler air in aloft. The combination of all this theoretically lowers dew points. Again, nothing serious is on the horizon.
Next report: February 13/morning